


A Separate Peace Ficlets

by yukiawison



Series: Ficlet Collections [8]
Category: A Separate Peace - John Knowles
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 16:46:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17410559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yukiawison/pseuds/yukiawison
Summary: A Separate Peace Ficlets from tumblr.(1-2 from ficvember 2018)





	1. First Snow at Devon

Gene woke to light steaming in their bedroom. Finny, being Finny, had scarcely thought of his roommate when he flung open the curtains and let the day in.

Gene rolled over to face him, blinking in the brilliant white of the snow outside. Finny’s hair was a mess, Gene could see as much even though he was in shadow. His outline was hunched with his crutches.

“Gene, it’s snowing,” Finny said, voice hushed with wonder.

“I noticed,” Gene groaned.

“Let’s go outside.”

“Finny, it’ll be freezing,” Gene said, but Finny was hobbling over to him and his insides were squirming and he knew he was powerless. He’d do anything Phineas asked.

Finny’s head poked out from his bulky scarf like a wildflower out of the grass. He gripped his crutches with gloved hands and maneuvered down the hallway with impressive stealth and speed. Then again, it was Finny. Finny, always the athlete. Finny, who still got excited about the snow.

The field before the Devon School was empty at sunrise. The snow was a clean sheet of white and it glinted in the light. They hovered in the frozen mist, feet on pavement, neither daring to disrupt. The snow made Finny shine too. Snowflakes caught in his eyelashes and his face flushed a brilliant red. He must have been freezing, in only his pajamas and hastily thrown on coat and scarf. Gene had tried to convince him to change, but of course he was buzzing with too much excitement to do so. And then there was his leg.

The cast wasn’t as big as the first he’d been outfitted with, but it still made Gene nauseous to look at. He hoped the cold would freeze his brain and he wouldn’t have to think anymore, not about the tree, not about the trusting way Finny looked at him, not about any of it.

“I love winter,” Finny said.

“I know you do,” Gene said.

“Help me make a snow angel,” he said, turning to Gene with an urgent expression.

“Finny…”

“Just hold these,” he thrust his crutches into Gene’s arms and swayed, off balance for a second before gripping Gene’s shoulder.

“Your cast will—“

“Be fine, just help me lie down.”

If anyone deserved to become a part of the spotless blanket of snow, it was Finny. Finny grabbed Gene’s hands and let him lower him to the ground. Gene set his crutches beside him and watched Phineas wave his arms and good leg in the snow. He grinned up at him.

“Join me, Gene,” he said. “Quick, before I freeze.”

“Okay,” Gene said. His mouth was dry. Finny’s cast blended in with the snow.

He lied down beside him. When he looked up the snow swirled above them. It stung on his face.

Gene didn’t love the winter. Winter meant an ending. And endings were too scary to think about.

“I love winter,” Finny repeated, his voice criminally soft. “It reminds me of you.”


	2. Watching

Finny liked the summer session. Finny liked it when Gene watched him swim. He got a far away look in his eyes, like he was thinking about a lot of things all at once, and Finny, dripping with chlorinated pool water would smile, and take a goofy sort of bow when his feet were on dry land again.

Gene got the same look during Blitzball. Finny started tossing the ball to him more often just so he could see this look. Gene’s dark eyes were often unfocused or bored: over his books in their room, while listening halfheartedly to Brinker going on about this or that, at assembly right before Finny leaned over and told him they should skip. But when he caught Gene staring he looked different. He looked concentrated and handsome, with his strong jaw and long lashes and hunched posture.

Finny thought about Gene often, perhaps too often. Many of his summer antics were perpetuated to impress him. He’d dreamt about their trip to the beach ten times before they actually went. The dream always ended differently: Gene said he was his best friend, Gene laughed and smiled and let the water lick his feet, Gene got angry and left alone, Gene didn’t back away when Finny leaned in close. In his head he could run a million scenarios.

“Goodnight, Fin,” Gene said, before turning out the lights. He’d been studying again, ignoring Finny like he didn’t know how awful that felt. His Southern drawl came out when he was tired. That drawl could keep Finny up at night.

“Goodnight, Gene,” Finny said, and when he closed his eyes he imagined all the stars above him, watching.


End file.
